WSOP:

Hellmuth enters main event dressed as Caesar

AP Photo

Professional player Phil Hellmuth waves to fans as he is carried into the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on the third day of the World Series of Poker on Sunday, July 5, 2009.

Oskar Garcia, Associated Press

Sunday, July 5, 2009 | 5 p.m.

AP Photo

Professional player Phil Hellmuth walks into a throng of fans at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on the third start day of the World Series of Poker on Sunday, July 5, 2009.

Flanked by dozens of women, heralded by trumpeters and mobbed by his fans, Phil Hellmuth channeled Julius Caesar as he arrived at the World Series of Poker on Sunday.

The no-limit Texas Hold 'em champion who won the main event 20 years ago slowly made his way to his table nearly two hours after play began, joined by body-painted female gladiators and muses carrying rose petals in tote bags.

"When you dress as Caesar you actually feel more powerful," Hellmuth told The Associated Press as he waited in a car outside the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, before his stunt.

"Kiss my ring!" the 11-time gold bracelet winner said. "Hail Caesar!"

He greeted World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and his table mates while television cameras rolled, then changed into more normal attire as the tournament broke after its first level.

Hellmuth, who last year entered the series dressed as Gen. George S. Patton, said his entrances have become a personal tradition at the series that he has looked to top each year.

"It's kind of a fun spectacle," Hellmuth said. "I think it's great for poker."

Nearly 1,700 players entered the tournament on Sunday, and officials expected a sellout of about 2,600 players on Monday, the last day the tournament will accept entries. The series was on pace to undershoot last year's total entries by about 800 players if Monday sells out.

Peter Eastgate won $9.15 million last year after emerging from a field of 6,844 players in the $10,000 buy-in tournament.

While nobody tried to top Phil Hellmuth's arrival at the series, other players routinely use gimmicks in the tournament to try to draw attention to themselves and sometimes distract other players.

Dennis Phillips, a trucking account manager who placed third last year and won $4.5 million at the series' final table in November, had a few dozen supporters dressed like him in a white collared shirt and a St. Louis Cardinals hat as he began the tournament.

Discussion: 11 comments so far…

By gold1020

7/5/09 at 8:34 p.m.

Suggest removal

Phil looks like he's dressed for gay porno.
By Gregory

7/6/09 at 12:25 a.m.

Suggest removal

Great guy, but thank goodness he wasn't driving a promo vehicle again.
By AKsilvereagle

7/6/09 at 1:07 a.m.

Suggest removal

Well, it is a Harrahs property so it fits the image...

I seem to think Harrahs would not allow the tournament officials to let Phil dress up like Carrot Top, Crissy Angel, Lance Burton, Montecore, Siegfried or Roy, Terry Fator, or some dang circus clown.....yanno, anything related that reflects their competition.
By PoenaAstorga

7/6/09 at 8:47 a.m.

Suggest removal

Phil is AWESOME.

Go, Phil, GO!
By DCThomas

7/6/09 at 11:11 a.m.

Suggest removal

Is poker the new wrestling? Perhaps the main event at the WSOP should be a cage match.
By RunninRebels

7/6/09 at 4:21 p.m.

Suggest removal

Phil Hellmuth is a clown. Why is this news? I wish he would have wrecked a car again, at least he might have been injured.
By azsk8fan

7/6/09 at 4:46 p.m.

Suggest removal

RunninRebel - to wish bodily harm to anyone, even a clown, is just so wrong.........watch out for Karma.......... and btw - I LOVE Phil :)
By Phargo

7/7/09 at 4:39 a.m.

Suggest removal

Someday Hellmuth is gonna insult a guy as goofy as he is and that gentleman will put a real hurtin' on the Poker Brat. they shot Lincoln didn't they?
By buck

7/7/09 at 7:47 a.m.

Suggest removal

I agree Phargo, I just never can understand why the WSOP allows Hellmuth to berate other players the way he does. When he begins calling names, it has gone too far. If he called me "idiot" (as he did last year) I would look him in the eye and call him "a**hole", and then just dare the WSOP to do anything about it. He is the King of Jerks.
By homer

7/7/09 at 9:22 a.m.

Suggest removal

Hellmuth is a want to be. In reality he can not play now the players field is as big as it is and he can not count on his pals to help him trap other players at the table so he or one of them can win. In every instance whether he has misplayed his hand or been out drawn the other player is an idiot.He needs a punch in the face. It is obvious his father did not teach him manners or how to be a gentleman. He is a complete zero as a person.
By Phargo

7/7/09 at 5:55 p.m.

Suggest removal

Hellmuth was obviously spoiled as a child, it shows in his adult life. I think he is a rusty bullethole!